Alright, here we go. It’s been a little over a month since I wrote about how Emily, the kids, and I are doing while in the grip of the Corona virus. In general we are doing very well, and for that I am thankful, (perhaps not as thankful as I should be considering all the people that are truly suffering from COVID-19). But, to say that ours lives have not been completely changed in the past two months would be very wrong. I’m not sure if (the proverbial) you would classify this post as complaining or whining, but I’m going to think of it as an update on how we’re feeling and how we’re coping with our new found life.
Luckily Emily and I both still working. The vet clinic where we work is still open and fully functioning, we are not turning any clients away and seeing all kinds of appointments (not just emergencies). I know most people have been quarantined to their house, their place of business has been shuttered, and they are staying home to self isolate and help flatten the curve. Emily and I have “essential” jobs and I am thankful. Our lives have maintained a certain amount of consistency because of this. We get up, we drop off our kids at daycare (still open for essential employees), we go to work, we pick up the kids, and we go home. But there is so much more stress and anxiety with everyday life now. I’m awake and writing this at 3:30 on Sunday morning. Neither of us sleep very well anymore, the corona virus is ever present in our thoughts, and the kids’ lives have been very much changed.
At work: at work COVID-19 is always present, always lurking around the next corner. We clean insistently. Every thirty minutes each phone, computer, calculator, door handle, and any other surface that is generally touched gets wiped down. Clients are no longer permitted in the building and that has been the case for a while now. We’ve tried to pair doctors and assistance to cut down on people’s exposure to one another. Everyone at the clinic wears a face mask to catch any sneeze or cough. But, even with all these precautions, COVID-19 lingers. There have been three coworker leave work due to illness. None of them have been tested, let alone tested positive for corona virus. But still, we have had three different cases of illness at the clinic. As an assistant, it’s my job to go out to the client’s car to get the patient and the patient’s history. Every time I go out to talk to a client, I can’t help but wonder if this client is sick, or have they been exposed before coming here. Is this next client taking social distancing seriously, are they wearing a mask to protect me from their coughs and sneezes? I have personally had clients try to hug me since this began. I’ve had several clients try to shake my hand, I’ve been coughed on, sneezed on, I’ve had a client put a pen in their mouth before attempting to hand it back to me (I politely declined the pen). COVID-19 and the fear lingers everywhere at work. Mostly I fear taking it home. I don’t fear getting sick myself, this is probably overconfidence, but I do fear being the one to get my kids sick.
At home: at home the fear is more distant. When I’m at home the fear feels like it’s “out there.” It isn’t here, it isn’t present, but it is still lurking. Trying to find a way in to our little bubble of safety. Emily goes to the grocery store once a week or every other week to buy food, and that is our extent with contact to the wider world except through work and daycare. When we are not working we are home. In general it’s been nice. We’ve started new quasi education projects. We’ve learned that vinegar will eat the egg shell off an egg, now we have a very squishy egg sitting in a glass jar (we also learned that the egg will absorb some of the vinegar and expand – now the egg can’t fit through the top of the jar.) We have also started a container ecosystem. The kids and I went down to the creek on our property and collected rocks, mud, plants, and creek water in a big container. So far we have seen some worm looking things crawling in the mud, some bug creatures swimming around the surface, and two tadpoles swimming around. We’ve also started a garden, started taking walks around the neighborhood, and many other little projects. Without school, Emily and I are trying to educate the kids at home. This is very tough due to the lack of change in our schedules, we still work five days a week. Instead of reading to the children at night, they now read to us, the school has provided packets of work for them to do, and we’re rehearsing sight words. I hope it’s enough, India is in first grade and Oscar is in kindergarten so school isn’t too challenging. We are, however, getting restless. Understandably, the kids want to go to the park, they want to go to church to see their friends. I find myself staring at the mountains longing to go hiking again, the walks around the neighborhood are nice but they aren’t quite the same. We all long to be out in the world again, to eat dinner at a restaurant or to play at park, but we are making due at the house.
At least the media and social media seems to have more fully understood the dire situation we are in. I no longer hear a lot of people down playing COVID-19, although you still have your outliers like the quarantine protesters in Lansing, MI (even though Michigan has one of the highest disease rates in the nation) and “Dr.” Phil who compared COVID-19 to car accidents. In general we as a society now understand the risk that we are currently living with. Most clients are taking social distancing seriously, most clients are wearing masks when I go out to talk to them, and I’ve even had some clients cancel non emergency appointments because they didn’t want to risk their health for an appointment that could easily be rescheduled. Emily and I are trying to do our part, I think most of the people out there are doing their parts. I can’t imagine that this will go on indefinitely. This is not the new normal, but hopefully just a blip (a very scary and difficult blip) in our lives.
On a lighter note, there have been some good things to come out of being quarantined with the family. Work is more stressful but also more fun without the clients in the building. At work we can talk about things we would never talk about with clients in the building. Conversations tend to be more frank and honest and language is a tad more colorful (helps with stress relief). Patients’ histories are more direct. As a family we’ve learned that McDonald’s is still open even though Emily and I tried our hardest to convince the kids that it was closed. I look weird with a shaved face (I’ve grown back the goatee), and Emily likes to dye her hair pink. Trying to teach a 2 year old anything school wise is almost impossible(we tried to teach Calvin to write his name). We’ve also learned how to better be content with what we have and enjoy those around us. Enjoyment and fun is not found out of ourselves but comes from within.
Tell us what you think, how is COVID-19 effecting you and your lives? And, as always, thanks for reading.
